Read Online Sherwood by S. E. Roberts - Free Book Online

giving him a slight and quiet glare. “Calm yourself,
Candor.”
    “ If you had
any suggestions, then maybe I would be calm!” He whispered harshly
again, his eyebrows scrunching together.
    Snap! Another twig echoed from close
by.
    Candor let out a loud,
angry huff.
    Harlow spun around to
survey the forest, as all the others were doing as well.
    Enders slowly moved the
flag behind his back and took precautionary steps backward. Harlow
could tell that his intentions were to press himself against a tree
in order to keep the flag safe and in his possession.
    Harlow raised
her eyes to the tops of the trees, searching for movement. She was
about to look behind her, when she saw the smallest shifting of
branches on the treetop in front of her; the same treetop canopying
over Enders and the flag.
    She opened her mouth
slightly. If the recruit jumped down now, he'd trap Enders, steal
the flag and make off with it. She had to hand it to the opposing
team, this was clever.
    Harlow saw the man getting
ready to drop down for the tree. Before he could carry out his
ambush, Harlow raced forward, putting her hand on Enders' chest and
forcing him back, putting all of her weight into it and pressing
herself against him.
    The man was a few seconds
to late. He dropped to the ground, his back to Harlow and
Enders.
    Before Harlow could even
think about what she was doing, she picked up an old, sturdy log,
lunging it forward into the man's gut.
    “ Oof!” The
man, who she now saw was a recruit named Andrew, doubled over,
holding his stomach in pain.
    Before Andrew could react,
Harlow pulled the log back and swung it hard against the man's
cheek, sending splinters and small pieces of old oak flying
everywhere. Andrew fell to the ground, safe and fairly unharmed,
but groaning in pain.
    Harlow raised her eyes to
Candor, Elwin, and Rawley. “Run!” She exclaimed as she grabbed
Enders arm and pulled him for a few seconds, deeper into the
forest.
    The further they got from
that place, the more time seemed to slow down.
    She scanned the treetops as
they ran, looking for signs of life, preparing herself for an
ambush.
    She didn't expect it when
she saw the movement from one tree coming up on her right. She
gazed up at the shifting branches she saw, noticing Reggie
crouching on a low branch. He pulled the string back on his bow, an
arrow ready in his fingertips.
    Harlow rushed forward,
laying a hand on Rawley's back, and propelling him forward to keep
him moving.
    Harlow looked around for
something to save them. She didn't find anything. She rattled her
brain for anything useful.
    And miraculously, one thing
came to her mind: a memory. She never knew the memory of her father
talking about how he used to dodge arrows with accurate precision
would come in handy someday. She smiled slightly at the
reminiscence before breaking back to reality. Her father told her
to weave in between trees, if possible. She narrowed her eyes
ahead. That was exactly what she was going to do.
    She looked up at Enders,
who was leading every one, flag in hand, racing toward an invisible
finish line.
    She broke away from the
line, racing adjacent to Rawley, avoiding arrows from all around
her. There were at least four archers in the trees, aiming all at
them.
    She pumped her legs harder,
jumping over renegade logs, and forcing herself forward.
    It felt like slow motion
when she passed Candor and Elwin, catching up to the front with
Enders after a few seconds.
    “ Enders!” She
yelled to him, running as fast as she could. “Cut right!” She felt
like the words couldn't come out fast enough.
    Enders nodded quickly,
taking a moment to look back at Harlow, before following her eye's
line of sight to Reggie.
    Harlow quickly changed
course, looking up at Reggie, who now had to change the direction
of arrows.
    Harlow forced her legs
faster, leading the group. She glanced backward to make sure
everyone followed. She saw everybody behind her, looking exhausted
and tired. A flurry